‘We who move’: the built environment of nomads in the Suleiman Mountains of Balochistan, Pakistan

Abstract This paper looks at nomad pastoralists migrating back and forth through the Suleiman Mountains of northern Balochistan, as part of their annual movements and importantly as guides for historic caravans. These caravans brought trade goods, particularly Central Asian horses, from the west to India. This ‘Silk Road’ link is central to the Karez System Cultural Landscape World Heritage nomination. Due to limitations on funding, challenges of physical access, politics and local conflicts, much of the research on these historic nomad movements and their built environment has been carried out using remote sensing imagery. It is possible to follow their trails marked in the images by compacted pathways, campsites, corrals, trail-side cemeteries and soil discolourations. This transient heritage is critically threatened as these nomad groups have been refused entry into Pakistan from Afghanistan due to border closures and conflict. The imagery over time shows how the nomadic built environment is becoming a layer of archaeological deposits. The most interesting challenge is how can this kind of ‘minimal heritage’ be documented, conserved and managed and whether it is possible to design a methodology for its preservation in some form.